Waste has been a prominent problem in the modern world. Much of the waste comes from plastic and/or metal, which decomposes at a very slow rate. These materials must be recycled, dumped into the oceans or waterways, or deposited into landfills where they will remain for centuries.
In order to reduce the waste in our ever-filling landfills, it is advantageous to create containers that are biodegradable and/or compostable. U.S. Pat. No. 1,415,100 to Lang describes a paper bottle having a neck portion that is strengthened by increasing the amount of pulp used in forming the neck. However, the additional pulp fails to increase the tensile strength of the neck, as the additional pulp comprises the same material that forms the body. Thus, as additional force is used to place a cork or other stopper in the neck, the neck portion can crack and subsequently leak.
Lang and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,540,726 to Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 1,602,925 to Moore, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,027,484 to Koch describe reinforcing the neck of paper containers by folding the sidewall over the mouth of the containers to add additional layers to the neck. However, such methods also fail to sufficiently increase the tensile strength to withstand insertion of a cork or other stopper.
It is also known to reinforce the neck portion by additional paper layers, as described in United Kingdom Pat. No. 401019 to Farrow, U.S. Pat. No. 1,342,013 to Chenery, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,415,100 to Lang. However, such reinforcement suffers from the same problem as above.
It is further known to strengthen the neck portion by adding one or more ribs formed about the neck portion, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,090,699 to Plunkett.
All of the above methods, while strengthening the neck portion, fail to sufficiently increase the tensile strength of the neck portion such that the neck can withstand forced insertions of corks or other stoppers into the bottles.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,525,399 to Kerkhof discusses utilizing a metal ring to strengthen a the neck of a receptacle. However, the metal ring is not biodegradable and would therefore add to the existing waste problem.
Thus, there is still a need for a reinforced neck portion comprising a frame having a material that is heterocompositional from that of the paper container.